Ditched: A Love Story

Let’s start with characters. Justina was your typical, high school girl overthinking everything and jumping to conclusions, but she was also one determined girl. I mean, if I had a night like her, I would have been on the ground somewhere just bawling my eyes out, defeated. Justina wasn’t like that, though. Yeah, she cried a few times, but then she got back up and continued on her way.
The Mikes deserve a little highlight because I think them along with Serenity and Bliss were my favorite characters. Sure, they’re stoners, but they’re sweet, thoughtful stoners :]

Now let’s go over the story. Yeah, it was crazy and zany, but it still managed to be believable. I loved that it was kind of a mystery that we got to discover and puzzle through along the way. I also really liked that because of the mystery I could go from liking a character to hating them to love them throughout the course of the story.

I loved how the stains on the dress incorporated into the story and I especially loved that there was a picture of something before each chapter that went along with that part of the night. Like a picture of the dress where curry was splattered on it. And the chapters without a dress picture had junk food titles which I found funny. I was desperately wanting nachos by the time I finished :P

The Nutshell: Ditched: A Love Story was a super cute, fun read. It was crazy, but in the best way possible. Justina is a character that really earned my respect with her determination, even if she made some bad decisions and assumptions. Chances are your prom was nothing like this, but you’ll definitely want to read about it!

Ditched is one of those stories that never happened to you but could have easily happened to someone you know! I loved the idea of best friends trying to figure out if they should be more with the stress of prom hanging over their heads. This story reminds me of a John Hughes film like Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles. The Heroine Justine is not your typical girl. Dressing up in taffeta and heels is not her idea of a good time but when Ian, her best friend asks her to go she finds it hard to refuse.

Justine faces many challenges prior to and during prom. First her mom helps her pick out her prom dress which is strikingly similar to something from the 80's!! Then there are all the mishaps that happen along the way.

The story begins at the end has Justine turns up in a convenience store needing a ride home. The older ladies working at the convenience store are not typical and one of my favorite parts of the book. Justine tells them her story in a most unique way. You know those books that have maps at the beginning? Well, Ditched has that at the start of each chapter but it's a map to every stain, rip, tear and broken bits of Justine's poor outfit.

I really enjoyed this book and think it will appeal to a broad range of readers. It is a fun tale about a girl who is just trying to survive prom and maybe get kissed by her best friend.

Justina's story begins on the morning after Prom. She indulges in a bit of temporary amnesia, for the audience's benefit, not hers. She wonders about a tattoo, a bruise in the shape of a french fry and the various stains on her dress, even though it soon becomes apparent that she remembers everything. This is definitely the low point of the novel. It certainly does grab your interest, but I didn't appreciate the pretense that she didn't know what had happened.

However, even as her clearly perfect memory frustrated me, I loved finding out her story bit by bit. Justina drags her unfortunate self to the 7-11, the good one, and begins unloading her depressing tale of woe onto the clerk (Gilda), later joined by a customer (Donna). This method of storytelling is a classic because it works. Plus, I just loved the way the chapters alternated between the food she was fed at the 7-11 and the various injuries and stains she attained during the night before.

Ditched is one of those stories where every possible bad luck thing that can happen does. Of course, some of them are Justina's fault, but many of them are not. A big bit of the blame goes to her mom, who thought Justina should dye her shoes to match her iridescent blue dress from the thrift store. It was also mom's idea to have bought said dress, which turns out to be a magnet for stains and not made of the sturdiest stuff.

If you're looking for some good schadenfreude, Ditched will not disappoint. I certainly feel a little better about missing out on the prom.

A very cute and funny read. This book was wonderful from start to finish. There wasn't a dull moment. I couldn't put the book down because I kept wonder what was going to happen next. When Justina is piecing together her prom night at 7-Eleven with Gilda and Donna stain by stain I couldn't help but laugh. You can't put the book down because you just have to know where that next stain came from and where the french fry looking bruise came from on her leg. I love that each chapter pertains to a different stain on Justina's dress complete with pictures of said stain. The relationship between Ian and Justina is adorable. They are best friends and seem to know everything about each other. He knows when her blood sugar is getting low and she is in need of a peanut butter cookie and she knows every facial expression he has and exactly what they mean. But could there be more than just friendship there? Nobody seems to really know. Hands down Ditched is and AWESOME novel. I highly recommend this book. You won't regret picking it up.